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20 March 2017

Blog Tour! Mystery at Maplemead Castle by Kitty French

I have made absolutely no secret as to how much I adore Melody Bittersweet so when I was asked to participate in the blog tour for the second Chapelwick Mysteries book I jumped at the chance. The whole gang from the first book is back for another hauntingly hilarious tale that, once again, is as full of heartfelt "awwws" as it is belly laughs. It's always a joy to find a book that can make me laugh until I cry and then turn right around and break my heart. I honestly didn't think it would be possible to love this as much as I loved the first one. Truth of the matter is, I may have even loved it more!

Too many times a series can go on without much in the way of character development. Here, though, everyone has had a bit of a boost. (Well, except for Leo's maniacal fembots. I don't think they can get a boost without plastic surgery or Victoria's Secret being involved!) Artie is truly coming into his own even though he's still living at home with his mum; Marina is even more terrifying when she's in her defend-the-bestie mode; even the one-eared pug, Lestat, is becoming an actual part of the team!

And then there's Melody.

Dear, sweet, slightly messed up Melody.

Melody Bittersweet, of course, is my BBGBFFL (best book ghostbusting friend for life). She's a geektastic spitfire full of spunk ... and pancakes ... and biscuits ... and cake ... and she has rather interesting taste in clothing and men. Of course, both her ex-boyfriend Leo AND her ... ummm ... well ... Fletch are back for this latest adventure. Her relationships with both go through quite a lot and it's really no surprise at all (to me, anyway) that a biscuit tin is almost at the ready.

This time the three of them (plus respective teams) are at Maplemead Castle in order to assist the new owners with their not-so-little ghost problem that includes an all-too-lifelike (for those who can see it) lion. Yes, ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages .... the circus is in town!

There are twists and turns galore -- of both the physical and metaphorical variety. It took a while to know what the real issue being investigated was and I totally did not guess the outcome until it was right in front of my face in all of its glory. I think maybe I was too delighted to just lose myself in the story to bother trying to get a step or two ahead of it. Or, maybe I was distracted by the latest love polygon to have put all of pieces together in the right spots. Or, just maybe, I was too busy expanding my vocabulary (I found myself calling someone a "hippocrocotwunt" the other day with great delight!).

Whatever.

I am ever-so-grateful to Kitty French for writing such phenomenal stories, to Bookouture for being brilliant enough to publish them, and to NetGalley for existing so folks like me have an easier time getting our grubby little mitts on the awesomeness in advance.

The world needs more awesomeness like all of them and, most of all, more Bittersweet!

Welcome to Chapelwick, a leafy English town in the hills of Shropshire, where chocolate pecan cookies come with a helping of sabotage.

Maplemead Castle is crawling with ghosts, and the new owners need them gone. When Melody Bittersweet and the Girls’ Ghostbusting Agency arrive on scene, they quickly identify the troublemakers swinging from the chandeliers… literally.

A century ago, stunning trapeze artist Britannia Lovell plunged to her death, and has done every night since. But did she really just fall, or was there something more to her demise?

Forced to work with Leo Dark, her scoundrel ex, and infuriating, irresistible reporter Fletcher Gunn, Melody’s investigative powers are under strain (i.e. lost in a pink mist of lust and confusion). She needs her team on top form, but best friend Marina’s cake pipeline goes AWOL, assistant Artie’s distracted by a giant sausage roll, and the pug is scared witless by a lion.

Somewhere, hidden in the castle, is a heart-breaking secret, but what will it take to find it? And is there a chance it could set Britannia free, or is she doomed to repeat her last fateful act forever?